


a dream of life again

by hearthouses



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Fairy Tale Elements, Fix-It, M/M, Resurrection, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hearthouses/pseuds/hearthouses
Summary: Sometimes all it takes a little belief, and a lot of love.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 5
Kudos: 62





	a dream of life again

**Author's Note:**

> Written on a whim for an writing exercise. 
> 
> Title taken from _Breath of Life_ from Florence + the Machine.

Richie knows Eddie isn’t caught in the deadlights—he isn’t dazed or hypnotized or even fucking  _ asleep _ ; Richie knows this well enough from the hot pour of blood rushing through his fingers, through his jacket, sliding off the leather. 

He knows because Richie crushed IT’s heart with Eddie’s blood on his hands, skin stained, crusting under his fingernails, but Eddie slipped away before Richie could come back to his side, eyes glassy and empty, staring up at him with no light emanating behind his dark pupils, all black. But he can’t help giving into the delirious hit of madness—or hope, not much different between the two, when you get right down to it. They all thought Mike was crazy for having hope, for  _ believing,  _ despite knowing the contrary. 

Richie leans forward before Ben can grab him around the waist to haul him away, the ground shaking below them, rocks coming down; Richie laughs to himself, under his breath,  _ the world is ending and I finally pluck up the fucking guts to do this. _

Eddie’s lips are cold and unmoving, and he tastes of bile and blood, sharp and bitter, but Richie doesn’t stop, pressing his mouth down harder, massaging his lips against Eddie’s, sliding his tongue inside, trying to coax a little life to come back, maybe breathe a bit of his own back into Eddie. 

_ If you believe it does. _

That was the line, right? Richie never knew much about fairytales, but kisses could bring back the dead, so could tears—he starts to taste salt, wet sobs shuddering through him, gasping against Eddie’s mouth. 

“Richie, honey,  _ please _ ,” he hears Beverly crying behind him, but Ben’s hands have stopped grabbing at him, instead moved to squeeze his shoulders, rolling his palms against Richie, a soothing, supportive grip. 

Fairy tales and nightmares go hand-in-hand, intertwined and intricable. Snow White comes with the evil queen and a poisoned apple. Seven kids can beat a monster by being brave. Maybe it’s not true love, but true enough love, the kind of love Richie kept secreted away in a pocket of his heart that ached even when he didn’t remember why. 

Richie can’t be sure Eddie is breathing back into his mouth, if it’s not just his own breath floating back, until he feels Eddie’s hands on his face, palms cupped around Richie’s jaw, the tips of his fingers tugging Richie closer. Eddie comes to and kisses back, moaning against Richie’s mouth, his lips warming up and mouth slickening as his body starts to work again. 

Eddie arches up when Richie’s mouth opens on a gasp, his tongue sliding along the roof of his mouth, still sticky with blood, but underneath he still tastes human. Richie can help his hands from moving, traveling down his body and sliding under his shirt, peeling away the blood-soaked cotton to feel nothing but skin underneath the pads of his fingers, a thick layer of scarring where the hole has been. Eddie whimpers into his mouth, but doesn’t push him away, lets Richie lay his palm over the left side of his chest and feel the thud of his heartbeat. 

Beverly laughs, but it sounds like a sob, high-pitched but ragged. Ben sniffles behind Richie, and over his shoulder, both Bill and Mike gasp. The rumble of the ground beneath them startles Richie and Eddie apart, both of them pulling back as the rocks begin to fall. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Eds,” Richie says, panting for breath. 

Eddie laughs, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I had to die to get kissed by you.” 

Richie ducks his head, wiping at his eyes under his cracked glasses. “Well, you know what they say, better late than never,” he says, glancing back up to Eddie grinning at him with swollen lips and blood still clinging to his chin. 

“I know you’ll want to talk about this,” he continues, reaching for Eddie’s arm to pull it around his shoulders, “ but first we need to get out of here before we all get fucking trapped in Dearly Departed Pennywise’s lair for all eternity.” 

Eddie lets Richie pick him up off the ground, carrying him the whole way out of the sewers.


End file.
